Photo credit: Reuters
More than 30 migrants including two children have been stranded for three days on an oil rig off Tunisia and are in dire need of help, the Sea-Watch charity said on Monday.
The New Arab reports that a reconnaissance plane operated by Sea-Watch spotted the group on the Miskar oil platform on Saturday, with an empty rubber dinghy floating nearby, a statement said.
“We were later able to confirm that the people were seen huddled in blankets on the platform deck, trying to shelter from the wind and waves,” it said.
Alarm Phone, a group that operates a helpline for sea migrants said on social media that it had spoken to the migrants on Sunday and been informed that one person had died and others were sick.
“They’ve not eaten for days,” Alarm Phone said.
According to Sea-Watch, the migrants had originally fled from Libya. The charity urged European authorities to act quickly to rescue them.
European governments have signed agreements with Libya and Tunisia that they will intercept and take back sea migrants, despite criticism from human rights groups.
